The Cleveland Indians will have a new team name, but it won’t be in 2021. Team owner Paul Dolan spoke to the Associated Press on Monday and said: “The name is not acceptable in our world.” He then revealed the team would be called the Indians until a new name is chosen.
“We’ll be the Indians in 2021 and then after that, it’s a difficult and complex process to identify a new name and do all the things you do around activating that name,” Dolan said. “We are going to work at as quick a pace as we can while doing it right. But we’re not going to do something just for the sake of doing it. We’re going to take the time we need to do it right.”
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Cleveland’s decision comes a few months after the NFL’s Washington Football team decided to change its name. The team was previously known as the Redskins, and Washington Football Team is a temporary name until a new one is chosen.
“It was a learning process for me and I think when fair-minded, open-minded people really look at it, think about it and maybe even spend some time studying it, I like to think they would come to the same conclusion: It’s a name that had its time, but this is not the time now, and certainly going forward, the name is no longer acceptable in our world,” Dolan explained.”
In the summer, the Indians released a statement concerning their name. This was in the middle of protests of racial injustice going on in the country. The nickname Indians is considered racist by some, which is why the name will be changed. And while some fans are happy about the move, Dolan understands why a good amount of fans will be upset.
“I fully understand it,” he said. “I consider myself a fifth-generation Clevelander. It’s in our blood and baseball and the Indians are synonymous, and that goes to the whole intent versus impact thing. Nobody intended anything negative by our attachment to the name Indians, but the impact has been tough.” Cleveland has been the Indians since 1915. Before that, the team had various nicknames, including Naps, Broncos, Bluebirds Lake Shores and Rustlers. Unofficial nicknames for Cleveland are The Tribe and The Wahoos.
